Life in Fukuoka, Japan: Nokonoshima Island and a noodle lesson

Nokonoshima and a noodle lesson

I feel like the weeks go by so quickly, but that means the weekends do, too. After this week Mark and I will have one week off. I thought I was going to miss my two week Fall Break in Colorado, but now that I still have a one week break all is well with the world.

Yesterday I went to the community center for my two hour Japanese lesson. I had the same gentleman who worked with me last week. He was prepared this week though, he brought flashcards and a beginner level book. The class was very helpful and I feel like I am starting to recognize a few of the hiragana characters. My teacher will not be there next Saturday since he has to work, but I am sure there will be someone to help me.

After I got home from class Mark and I set out to find the Junkudo bookstore. I have heard it is the largest bookstore in Fukuoka. My teacher had given me a map to help me locate the store. I exited the subway in the right spot, but when Mark and I came out to the street level we were a little puzzled on which way to go. I had just taken out my map to look at when a young man came up and asked us in English if we needed help. I told him that we were lookinf for Junkudo and he said “follow me”. He took us around the corner and pointed out the store. What a nice person to take the time to help two confused people. I have to say that where ever I go in Fukuoka the people are always willing to help.

The bookstore was HUGE. There are four or five floors in store. Luckily I knew what I was looking for so I asked one of the people working at the information table. She looked up the book I was looking for and called up to the 4^th floor. When I got there they already had the book pulled for me. I then asked if she could show me the Japanese flashcards they might have. I ended up getting one box. They only had one box of each type of flashcard. This made it a little hard to buy my friends cards. At least we know they have the cards. I wanted to find the map book that my teacher had so that we could better get around. When I asked them if they had a book with a map of Fukuoka and the area they told me no. Then the lady got a ma of the area out and told me to go to the IMS building to Rainbow Plaza.

Mark and I have wanted to go to Rainbow Plaza for a while to see what it had, but I couldn't figure out why they would have a book with maps of the area. We headed over and found out that the IMS building is 12 floors of a huge mall. It has all kinds of stores. On one floor there must have been at least 4 massage places next to each other. Very odd. We found Rainbow Plaza which is located on the 8^th floor. When I showed the lady the page from the map that I had and I explained how I was hoping to by the book it was from she was a little confused. She told me that Junkudo sells them. I then explained the whole story how I was sent to her from the Junkudo person. She said she had the book and she would make a copy of the cover for me to take back to Junkudo.

After we left Rainbow Plaza we went to find a place to eat. We were both starving. I was very excited because we found an Italian restaurant. I knew I was safe eating there because I know which dishes have meat in them and which ones I can eat. Well, I thought I knew. Marked and I shared a salad because the waitress told us it was big enough for 2 people. Mark ordered a calzone and I ordered puttanesca pasta. Mark's calzone arrived with our salad and it was teeny tiny. It was an appetizer size. I told him not to worry because I was sure we could share my meal. It turned out even better for him......when my food arrived I could tell that it had “something” in it. I didn't know what it was, but I found out it was very fishy fish. I could hardly stand the smell. I gave it to Mark so at least it was not wasted. Bummer for me though.......I was so looking forward to a good meal out.

We left to head back to Junkudo to buy the map book. When I went in I went to the information desk and showed them the copy of the cover I was hoping to buy. The lady called someone and the next thing I knew the book was in front of me. I like shopping for books this way. It makes it sooooo much easier to shop since I would have had no idea where to even begin to look.

We headed out and made a stop at the Starbucks that is right next to the bookstore (of course). At least I got to enjoy my caramel light frapp for my lunch. From there we headed toward Don Quijote to buy a few things before going home. We have found a cereal that we both really like and that has many different grains, seeds and fruit in it. At Don Quijote it is about 300 yen cheaper than at the grocery stores. It is such a bargain that we bought five packages. We are set for a bit...I hope.

Once we got home we relaxed and watched a couple of movies. It was nice to relax and just enjoy the evening.

Today (Sunday) Mark and I got up and did a few things around the house before heading out to do our grocery shopping at the Marina Shopping Mall. It is a nice shopping area that has so many different shops and restaurants inside. We timed it today and it took us only 10 minutes to walk there. Not bad at all.

Once we were home we got everything put away and headed out to catch the ferry to Noko Island. The ferry area was packed. I am not saying that lightly, cars were backed up and the line was already out the door when we arrived. We thought we were going to have to wait about 30 minutes for the next ferry, but they were running them back to back since so many people were headed over to see the cosmos. Some of you may wonder what the big deal is about seeing flowers, but it wasn't just seeing flowers, it was seeing the flowers in such large quantities. I have many photos today of the cosmos because I could not decide which ones to include. It is breathtaking!

The park was very full. Last weekend when we went there were some people there, but today it was packed. The large grass area had people covering it eating their picinic lunches and eating at the nearby restaurant. We were going to try the BBQ place, but I knew there would be nothing I could eat. We decided on the udon noodle restaurant. I ordered a dish that was just noodles and came with a few things to put on the noodles. Now, I am not a pro eating noodles with chopsticks although I feel I am getting better. I had added the onion, sesame seeds and some chili paste to my noodles. There was also a little container of sauce with my meal. Well, I just dumped it into my noodles. Here is where a nice thing happened. A young man came up to me with another little bowl of sauce and took the time to explain to me that there are two types of udon served there. The one kind he told me was what Mark had and that you eat it all out of the big bowl. Mine he told me was the kind that was in the hot water and that you take some noodles out of the big bowl and put it in the sauce and then eat it. What a nice man to come over and teach me how to eat my udon. I have to say that the people here are just so nice. I think it is amazing that he took his time to come and explain it to me so that in the future I would know how to properly eat my udon. Once I had my lesson I observed people around me to see how they were eating it. What a great thing. I learn more than one thing here each day. Hopefully, one day I will not look so much like a tourist and more like a foreign resident. Once we knew what we were doing Mark ate the rest of my noodles since I was full. He was eating it like a pro (well, more or less).

We went and explored the rest of the park. It is very beautiful and manicured. The only creepy thing is all of the spiders that are there. I know spiders are everywhere, but ewwwwwww...they creep me out. I am always looking around me to make sure I am not going to walk face first into a web. Normally they are out of the way of the people. Just gives me the willies thinking about it. I have a photo on the blog of a close up. I zoomed in on it since there was no way I was getting any closer.

Mark thought he would be funny, and when I was taking a photo of something he decided to make me think I had a spider on my head. I went to move very quickly and realized it was his hand. He almost died today. It would have been sad, but who would do that?? Ugghhhhhhhh. He still laughs about it. He won't be laughing when I have nightmares about it and start yelling in my sleep. We will see who gets the last laugh. (Mel is you are reading this do not get any ideas..I would get you, too.)

We walked around for a bit more and then went to see how we get back to the ferry. There was a very long line running through the gift shop area. We joined the others and were lucky enough to fit into the second bus. It was standing room only. They had us packed in like sardines. We arrived back at the ferry just in time to rush to board the ferry. There were no cars on the ferry so we were all packed in there like cattle. It was amazing how many people were still waiting to take the ferry over. I think everyone knew that this was the “prime” weekend for the flowers.

What a great day on Nokonoshima Island!!! I have a ton of photos of the flowers, too many for some of you. I just had to share them though. If anyone ever wants to visit October is a great month here. The weather is nice and cool without being cold. The flowers are blooming and I have a week off. Just saying it is something to think about for next year.

Enjoy the flowers.